Two Year Prologue
by RobinsNowi
Summary: Hi everyone, I decided to write something about the two year interval that the Sheperds have between the first part of the game and the second part of the game, focusing on Nowi and Robin's lives during the time. Hope you all enjoy
1. Chapter 1

"Robin, do you have time?"

Nowi asked Robin who had been bluntly staring at a scroll he had freshly sealed with waxing. As if suddenly awakened, Robin answered in a startled voice.

"Oh! Sure I do, Nowi. What's going on?"

Nowi slowly paced to Robin's desk and rested her weight against it.

"Well...now the war is over...everyone's going their ways."

She started, her eyes pointed to the floor of Robin's tent. Robin's consciousness suddenly focused.

"...Yes. They are."

He answered, unconsciously grim. The end of the war was of course something to celebrate, and the cheerful background noises proved as much.

However, these two in particular seemed at a loss for some reason. For Robin, it wasn't that he missed the war where he could practice his talent at tactics; rather, He longed to be away from it. The responsibility and burden of taking charge of so many people's lives lay heavily on him throughout the war and had worn him out. What made him so forlorn instead, was the realization that he did not know at all what to do after the war. Sure, he had a bunk in the Shepherd barracks, but now he had to find a real living, possibly and hopefully away from the fighting and soldier business. But he did not know at all what he could do. He knew he could rely on Chrom to feed him, but that was simply too pathetic. Now was a time to start anew so that he had a sustainable living fit for peacetime.

Moreover, that was not the only thing bothering him. He also realized that he had grown quite accustomed to being in a tightly knit group of allies. However, as one by one started talking about what they would do with their family or broke off from the group as Gregor, Lon'qu, Khan Basilio and Flavia and Olivia did, he started to understand that everyone had their own lives to live, often with family.

Robin however, had no life to return to, let alone a family he knew of.

As such, the peaceful life presented itself as a mystery to Robin. At first, it was part wonder and part confusion. But as the army drew closer and closer to the Ylissean borders, it gradually turned into a rock-like sensation sitting in his gut. Being an adult, and given the cheerful atmosphere permeating the group, Robin could not bring forth his question for discussion with others. Therefore, he would often just sit and stare into empty space at the loss of a plan and in silence watched the excited Shepherds yelling about glory at home and competitively comparing their mother's home cooking. It was in this state that Nowi had found Robin.

"Well...Umm...what are you going to do now...?"

She asked, carefully observing Robin's countenance; Robin knew how good she was at reading him, and thus made no attempt to hide his feelings. He shrugged and smiled.

"To be honest, I have no idea, Nowi. What am I supposed to do?"

He finally managed with a sigh, thankful to be releasing the question which had been so long itching to be asked.

He knew Nowi could be confided in with matters of the mind and heart for she would always suggest her own simple yet extremely effective remedies to such ailments. However, this time, the situation was not quite the same. Nowi, as Robin understood, also did not have a home to speak of as she had been traveling the world until she was briefly captured. Thus Robin guessed that Nowi might have a similar problem as he did.  
And he guessed right as well; Nowi drew her tongue out and smiled with a small frown.

"Same here! I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I feel like I've been here forever but now...everyone's going their own ways and that's a good thing for them. ...But I'm feeling lost here,"

She said as she hoisted herself up on Robin's desk and sat on it.

"So we're both lost sheep huh? That's actually pretty comforting, haha. Knowing I'm not the only one here feeling strangely glum."

Robin secretly sighed in relief, at the sakme time trying to cheer Nowi as well as himself up. Nowi nodded.

"Yup! We're together in this…this puzzle of sorts,"

She managed with a small snicker.

For a while, Robin and Nowi sat in silence pondering. This was not an uncomfortable silence, however, as they were quite used to sharing the same space due to their always moving as one unit, not only during battles but also in their rare free times as well. Robin simply enjoyed being in Nowi's presence, watching her cheerfully scampering about and fetching this and that to him with questions with the fervor of a puppy that had been let outdoors to play for the first time. Nowi's unique geniality always allowed him to lay down his burden without guilt and refreshed his spirits like no one else did, and her capacity for empathy never failed to amaze Robin in those moments they were alone when Nowi would choose to show a truer side of her character, unburdened by her duty to keep the Shepherd's spirits up with her enacted childishness.

Nowi also regarded Robin as her favorite playmate and secretly something much more, for he never hesitated to break his stoic tactician's persona for whatever she suggested for the both of them, and would on many occasions double up with his own suggestions which would always add a pleasant measure of depth to their activities. Nowi's keen sense for reading people had also set Robin apart from the others, for he genuinely enjoyed spending time with Nowi no matter how carefree or childish her games seemed while others would agree to join Nowi's games only out of politeness and with a nagging question as to why they were doing this. Her games were, as much as they were for her enjoyment and others, her own stratagem for getting to know people from the various reactions they made while playing the game as well as a remedy for people who needed the respite. She also set apart her games so that she would be shown playing them, as her purpose with them was to cheer the camp up with her presence. When she was more alone or…with Robin, she chose to interact in much calmer ways, although never losing her cheerfulness. Such transition resulted in her demeanor being one that was gentle and attentive, and quite often left Robin in an enamored turmoil.

Robin's tent was mysteriously calming despite it always being half covered with scrolls and books. His presence itself seemed to warm the tent up to a cozy degree, so Nowi always chose to spend her evenings in Robin's tent, sometimes reading along with Robin or conversing about so many things under the mellow flickering glow of Robin's lamp. When Robin needed to focus, she would retire to his bedding and cover herself up with Robin's blankets, comfortably settling in. She usually chose to watch his back as he worked, or knit, or read some of his more entertaining books in these cases. At first Nowi worried that she was being a bother to Robin, but unlike so many others who would have considered her presence as such, Robin would stretch, turn his view to find Nowi still there and smile as if he was glad that she was still there. He once even managed to tell her sheepishly that he liked Nowi being there, albeit with his back still turned to his scrolls and making a small fuss with embarrassed grunting and coughing. This alone was enough of a hint for Nowi to make a sound conjecture on Robin's feelings towards her, and the knowledge was ever so elating and delicious. It was only when Nowi fell asleep much later on that they separated, Robin often carrying Nowi back to her tent when he failed to awake her, tucking her in ever so gently and leaving Nowi wistful when he would exit her tent with a good night. This was a guilty secret of hers, but nowadays Nowi feigned drowsiness harder than ever because she enjoyed the process of being carried to her bed by Robin so much, to the extent that it was one of Nowi's most crucial question of a given day whether to pitch her tent next to Robin's so that she could quickly visit him, or to pitch it far away so that Robin had to carry her for a longer duration.

Given their intimacy, it was only natural that she chose to visit Robin with this matter. She actually wanted to hear something of Robin but dared not suggest, for she had never underwent such a venture even given her age of a near-thousand. After all, she had lived alone all this time in the secluded manakete village until she was briefly made to travel around the world due to her captors. In any case, she did not want to separate from Robin and break their routine they so much enjoyed. She feared that they will lose their togetherness, and this was a crippling fear for her who longed for company more than anything.

This fear was, in fact, shared by Robin. To Robin who had awakened on a field with no memory whatsoever of his past, he secretly desperately hoped for company as well. This longing had finally been sated by his relationship with Nowi, but he knew how unique and precarious their current situation was; what was the soil that nurtured their intimacy was a very temporary and unnatural situation called wartime after all.  
But Robin was smart enough to understand that their relationship surpassed situational boundaries; to understand that it would take strong root again even if the soil changed. Thus, there was no way Robin was giving up. There were many things he had to give up, many friends he had to send away, but not her. Sure, Robin may have been at a loss about what he was going to do from now on, but he wasn't at a loss about his one true desire. He had concocted a plan, but…to execute it was going to take more than a small amount of courage. To be honest, he would feel less fear diving into a cavalry charge than going ahead with this plan. However, Robin's keen tactical senses clearly told him: Now was the time.

Robin gulped.

Having given up trying to spy Robin's expression from his back, Nowi ran a finger over one of Robin's loosely bound scrolls. He was staring outside blankly again.

"Nowi,"

He suddenly blurted out.

"H-Huh?"

Nowi answered, trying her best not to look like someone who had been peeking at his countenance. Robin scratched the back of his head.

"Well…This is…That is…Umm. This might sound outrageous but I've been thinking about something for a while…"

He then hesitated and stopped.

Nowi decided to wait, continuing to scratch the seal on Robin's scroll. A moment passed when the scroll's seal suddenly broke due to lose waxing and its contents rolled into view.

'Oh? What's this?' Nowi soon realized that it was a floorplan for a two-story housing, and began to examine the writings on it.

'Here's the kitchen…oh how nice, he even drew all the details in! This pot of flower is adorable…and there's the living room with a fireplace built in…But of course, it's got a big bookshelf for his books. Oh the Sofa looks so cozy!...Wait He wants to have a barbeque spit to go with the fireplace? Interesting idea, I actually love it! I do love our little cooking outings over a campfire spit... Oh and there's the staircase up…What a nice place. I'd sure like to live in something like this someday…'

She ran her finger up the staircase and reached the second floor. There were two bedrooms on each side, one of which said 'My bedroom' and the other which said-

'!'

Nowi's finger stopped dead in its tracks. Her mind went blank and her pupils shook as she drew in air into a gasp.

"So what I wanted to say was…"

Robin started again.

Nowi ran her eyes over the room's name again. There was no mistake.

"W-would you like to stay with me for the time being? S-see, the rent around Ylisse is quite high, so I hear subleasing takes a lot off of one's shoulder and—Well, I, I don't mean this in that way but if you feel uncomfortable about it, s-since we're of the opposite sex and everything I-I mean that's fine too but—"

Robin stammered on with his back turned to Nowi.

Realization sank into Nowi's mind and the tips of her lips curled into a smile with such force that not even Naga could have stayed it as she held the scroll up and hugged it, crumpling the sheet up as her body shook with rapture and a cry of joy emanating from somewhere deep within her chest escaped her throat.

"~~~~~!"

"I-if you need time to think that's fine too but—Nowi?"

Robin stopped, noticing the small, amorous commotion that Nowi was making behind him. He turned and realized what scroll she was hugging so preciously, and started to come up with an embarrassed excuse when he was set upon by a radiantly excited Nowi who pounced Robin with enough force to have mowed down a small hill had she been in her dragon form.

The scroll rolled open as she did, and revealed the room that caused Nowi's rapture: A bedroom whose name read, "Nowi's Bedroom(Potentially?)."

After a good while of vigorous choke-inducing hugs, Robin caught his breath and realized what this meant. He broke into a smile just as powerful as Nowi's and held her hands firmly.

"I guess this means yes?"

Robin asked.

Instead of answering, Nowi started assaulting Robin again.


	2. Chapter 2

One of the little side stories I wrote before going into the real thing.

One thing to know beforehand is that the JP version of Nowi's account doesn't say what she did during her captivity, just that she'd been auctioned a few times. This is how that gets translated in my head.

* * *

'I have someone with me.'

This was a thought that Nowi had recently learned to cherish with all of her being. It was something that would fill her heart with intensely ticklish flutters and give her a desire to hug something and jump up and down in joy, that something of course being Robin. (If she couldn't, then she had to suffice with a pillow.) Never had she felt this fulfilled and yet this longing at the same time. Each morning, as she opened her eyes, the knowledge of their arrangement would fill her with bubbly feelings whose bubbles, each and every one of them, seemed to burst into gushing euphoria. She then would immediately long for Robin, to see his sweet, innocent sleeping visage. To coo sweet morning calls into his ear and see his eyelids flutter open into the warmest welcoming smile. Or, vice versa for when Robin would come to her to tickle her awake in every sensory way possible. His voice tickled her ears, his smell tickled her nose, his hands tickled her skin as it brushed across Nowi's forehead, and the very sight, the very presence of him tickled her heart. This morning too, Nowi was eased awake by him, and she desperately feigned drowsiness as an excuse to cling on to Robin as long as she could. Robin chuckled during the whole ordeal, never rushing her. They spent the morning together after that, breaking fast and climbing a tree to bask in the crisp morning sunshine and listen to the songbirds while leaning into each other until it was time to get to their respective chores in the camp.

"Wow, you seem awfully happy."

Lissa commented when she noticed Nowi's expression. It indeed was a happy visage, almost to the point of drooling. The very act of remembering their morning together was enough to make Nowi fall into a trance.

"Oh! It-it kind of shows doesn't it?"

Nowi said, organizing herself briskly.

"'Kind of' doesn't cut it, sis. You were about to drool into that dough!"

Lissa giggled. She then sat next to Nowi who had been kneading a dough for a dinner roll. Now was a lazy afternoon, and today was Nowi's turn to help with the kitchen chores. Lissa grabbed one herself and asked.

"So! What's the good news? Did you get confessed to or something?"

Immediately, Nowi's lips curled into a wide smile again as her ears turned red, quite noticeable given her long ears. She also began to shake, involuntarily squeezing the dough until it started oozing through her fingers as she clenched her eyes shut. She swore she would have bellowed out in joy if others weren't in her company.

"Umm...talk about being obvious…Anyways! That's amazing! Congratulations! I'm so glad for you two."

Lissa said as she playfully poked Nowi's side. Nowi giggled and attempted to stop Lissa when she noticed something.

"Huh? You're not asking who it was?"

Nowi asked, suddenly curious. To this, Lissa raised her eyebrow and smirked.

"You guys weren't exactly discreet about it...Robin's been fawning over you in like forever and you've been licking him like an excited puppy every time you turned into a dragon. The former, you might have been able to hide but the latter...Well you're a tad too big to hide things like that. Besides, you guys are stuck together all the time ever since your first meetings."

Lissa explained. Nowi became flustered at the thought.

"Gosh! Um, is it just you or was it THAT obvious?"

"Even the guys noticed so you could say it was THAT obvious. But what's there to hide? It's such a good thing!"

"We-well it is but...it's kind of embarrassing to think everyone noticed…"

Nowi said as she put her palms on her burning cheeks.

"Aw come on, you're acting like this is your first time being in a relationship. You know it's nothing to be embarrassed with."

Lissa continued. Nowi however, made a blank expression and tilted her head.

"This isn't not my first?"

Lissa raised a questioning eyebrow to this reaction. She stared into Nowi's eyes also full of questions and then widened her eyes in surprise.

"Wait...you're not telling me...this is...this is your first time…?"

Nowi nodded.

"It is!"

"Wow! Um. Sorry, I thought, given your age and all that…"

Nowi giggled to this.

"I haven't exactly been out here a long time. See, I lived in a secret manakete village for a looooong time and there really weren't anyone around my age group and my elders., well...they like to sleep. A LOT. So not much social interaction going on there...I mostly had to keep myself entertained by myself in the forests after I ended up reading everything I had to read, aside from my occasional visits to nearby villages for bartering. It's been...maybe like a few months since I've stepped out here. Definitely my first time being outside for so long too. Lots of firsts!"

Lissa's expression darkened.

"Oh...That...That must have been so hard for you...being...being made to do things like that against your will to those scums..."

Nowi tilted her head again, as she thought there wasn't anything to be disheartened with within her explanation.

"Huh? What things?"

Lissa's visage rapidly turned red.

"Th-Things that bad people make girls do! Like...like getting naked and...and…"

Nowi's visage also rapidly turned crimson in surprise as well.

"N-NAKED?!"

She gasped. Lissa was in total confusion as was Nowi.

"Sh-Shhh! People are going to hear!"

"R,right."

Nowi put a hand on her chest to calm herself, taking a few breaths. Of course, Nowi by now realized what Lissa was referring to, a discussion that had once burst out of nowhere before while Robin had come down with the case of worry-sickness as to what Nowi had gone through during the captivity, leaving them in silent embarrassment for days. To Robin's great relief, Nowi's experience with such tragic ordeal was as blank as her reaction to the topic, and Nowi meant to keep it that way no matter what it took. She recounted her experience during her brief captivity and organized them in her mind, then leaned into Lissa's ear and spoke again in a whispering tone.

"So um. Robin and I went through this discussion before so he knows, but no nakedness involved! No sir! Not at all! I...I get what you mean. You're talking about um..involuntary sexual...stuffs right? W-Well I don't think they were interested in doing things like that to me because see, I was caged up and no one even touched me or talked to me the whole time...They didn't let me out even during auctions! Someone made it clear every time that I was not to be touched while they were auctioning me off because the Grimleal wanted me in a perfect state. Like I was worth much more to them with no stains or something…?"

She trailed off. The memories of those times seemed quite distant now, and even more so rather uneventful, so she had to pause now and then to refresh her memories..

"The people that bought me were all similar people who were carrying me closer and closer to the desert where I ended up and met you guys. Now that I think about it, I think they were like outlaw transporters acting as transport routes to the Grimleals for whatever evil they're up to….So even the guards stationed around my cage were really there to 'guard me.'"

"I was getting really cramped and tired from being stuck in a cage for so many days in warehouses with such badly cooked meals, but then gramps kind of killed them off in a scary way one morning so I took off in confusion and the rest of the story...you kind of know."

Lissa, after a while taking this all in, took a deep breath and sighed in relief. She then reached out and wove her arms around Nowi's shoulders.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you...I feared...I feared all this time that your womanhood had been irrevocably scarred…"

Nowi, although initially surprised at the gesture, returned the pressure in appreciation. This was a very pleasant surprise for Nowi; Nowi and Lissa got along along quite well given their fondness for frolickery and the like, but now that she came to think about it, they never really got to sit down and share their stories like this. On top of that, Lissa had been worried so much for her sake! Nowi remembered that Lissa was the first person who showed concern for Nowi's tale of her plight; She must have decided to put the discussion to rest in consideration of Nowi's state of mind at the time.

"Yeah...I still shudder when I think about what could have happened to me too. I'd never be myself again...But hey, as you see, I'm quite myself! You'd instantly know if there's something wrong with me. ...But thanks, Lissa...You really worried for me ever since our first meeting, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! No one deserves to go through something like that...Not my friend, least of all!"

"Lissa…"

Nowi brushed her friend's hair fondly and rested her head on top of Lissa's, deeply appreciating this gesture of friendship.

"Right! Now that that's clear...huh?"

After a while. Lissa looked up with a refreshed smile and made a very confused expression upon beholding Nowi's smiling visage, soon bursting into laughter.

"Nowi! Your face! Ahaha!"

"Huh?"

Nowi put her hand on her cheeks and realized that she had been smothering flour all over her cheeks when she cupped her hands to whisper to Lissa.

"Oh! Oops!"

"Y-You look like you grew a pair of white mustaches, Ahahaha!"

Lissa fell on her back on the bench this time, jerking with laughter.

"Heehee! You look like you grew old too! You've got flour all over your hair!"

Nowi shot back in gamesome spirit. Indeed, Lissa's hair had turned shimmery, powdery white.

"So have you! I guess you look more your age now!"

"Oh that's how it is? You look like a granny with silvery hair too! Haha!"

They continued to exchange friendly jabs and laughter for a good while until an appalled Maribelle came to drag them away to the ladies' bathhouse.

Of course, they did not hesitate to smother Maribelle in flour as well, much to her unexpected enjoyment. They play-fought until they almost turned white as ghosts and sent many a Shepherds into bemused shock as they made their way to their destination.

"So that's what happened!"

Nowi finished explaining, beaming with the fun she had during the day. As her clothings were being laundered, she was wearing one of Robin's shirts he had lent her when the company had visited Regna Ferox, where Nowi shivered greatly in the freezing weather and almost experienced hypothermia. She swore to herself never to go even near those regions; she detested the cold. Robin could no longer watch her suffering and lent her his own shirt and kept her in the folds of his cloak during the stay. Nowi found the shirt to be strangely well fitting for herself and quite enjoyed wearing it ever since then.

Robin was thoroughly amused with her tale of the day. It was simply amazing how Nowi always managed to make a given day so eventful within a few hours.

"So that's how we got those funny looking dinner rolls, huh? Mine was the best looking; It looked like...like someone tried to squeeze them in their palm very hard and the dough just oozed out between their fingers."

"Oh!"

Nowi exclaimed; That one was the one she was unconsciously squeezing in giddy embarrassment when she had been asked if she'd been confessed to. Also out of embarrassment, Nowi deftly kept those details secret from her recount. Was it really a coincidence that it ended up on Robin's plate? If it was, it was quite the sweet coincidence indeed.

"So YOU got that one. Wow! That's...that's amazing."

"It tasted amazing too. Unlike traditional dinner rolls, its...arms? branches? were crispy so it had added texture to it. I'd eat something like that again any time."

"Y-You would? Well I guess I should continue making yours like that from now on!...Oops."

Nowi burst out in excitement, but soon realized that she had disclosed her secret herself.

"Ah, so you're the one who made that? I had an inkling of a notion but hah! No wonder it tasted so good. It was definitely a cut above all the others, and even more so now that I know you made it."

Robin said with a warm, content smile and fondly gazed into Nowi's eyes.

Nowi swore her heart simply melted down. She dove into Robin's chest and pushed her cheek against its firm warmth.

"Thanks...That was really sweet of you."

She whispered with a warm, content smile and sheepishly avoided Robin's gaze, her visage turning pink.

Robin swore his heart simply melted down. He froze as Nowi dug into his chest again and continued rubbing her soft, warm cheek against the firm warmth of his chest.

"N-no problem!"

He managed to croak. His body tensed up even as he tried to return the tenderness of Nowi's gesture, making him feel as if his body had suddenly turned wooden.

'Oh, Oh, Gods. I...I don't know whether I should ask Naga to save me or keep things this way as long as possible,'

Robin thought as his heart was threatening to explode.

It became apparent later on that Naga had decided to keep things that way for a while, much to Robin's perplexed delight.


End file.
